Frequently Asked Questions about the Center for Scholastic Inquiry

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR ACADEMIC RESEARCH CONFERENCES:

Do I need to be a member of CSI to attend your conferences?

Absolutely not; regardless of membership status, all professionals, practitioners and graduate students in the fields of education, business and behavioral sciences are welcome at our conferences. Professional membership in the Center for Scholastic Inquiry offers you discounts on many of our products and services, including conference registration. Additional membership benefits specific to our conferences include appreciation gifts, members-only event invitation/participation, registration fee scholarships, and visitors' invitations. For a full description of all of our member benefits, please visit our Membership page.

What is the difference between a Best Presentation Award and a Best Paper Award?

At our academic research conferences, researchers who give the best presentation in each breakout session and researchers who submit the best paper in each disciplinary track are recognized. Best presentation awards are determined by session attendee voting. Best paper awards are determined by executive board voting. All awards are conferred on the last day of the conference during the closing general session.

What if my institution will not cover conference costs unless I am a confirmed presenter?

The Center for Scholastic Inquiry is not a presentation company; the value we offer is meaningful professional development and continuing education. That said, however, sharing scholarly work and research findings certainly increases expertise and authority and augments mastery of the body of knowledge. Therefore, to accommodate situations where confirmation is necessary, the Center for Scholastic Inquiry offers an advance review of abstracts/proposals submitted for conference presentation. If you require an advance review to secure approval for conference registration, please email your abstract/proposal to editor@csiresearch.com with the subject line advance review. The review committee will evaluate your submission, and you will receive notification of their informal decision within three business days.

Why do I need to pay to present with CSI?

No one pays to present with CSI. The Center for Scholastic Inquiry hosts research conferences which provide continuing education and meaningful professional development to our attendees. There is, of course, a fee for conference registration. As part of that registration fee, among many other benefits, CSI makes a time slot available for you to present one paper/presentation in a conference breakout session. For a full list of what a conference registration fee includes, please click here.

Why do I have to pay before I know if my paper is accepted for presentation?

There is a registration fee associated with conference attendance, not presentation. One of the many values included in that fee is the time slot made available for you to present a paper/presentation if you elect to do so. You are paying for the continuing education and professional development offered at our research conferences. If you elect to present, that benefit is extended to you as part of your conference registration. To learn more about CSI’s conferences, please click here.

What is the difference between an abstract and a proposal?

For our purposes, an informative abstract is a 250-word part of the larger proposal. An informative abstract is a concise synopsis of a study and should include a problem statement, a description of the research method/approach, a summary of the study results/findings, and a discussion of the conclusions/implications. An effective abstract is coherent; presents the paper’s/presentation’s purpose, method and scope; follows the chronology of the paper/presentation; adds no new information; is understandable to a novice in the field and uses passive verbs to emphasize information rather than the writer(s).

A proposal includes the paper/presentation title, contact information for the author(s), 100-word biography for each author, and the informative abstract. CSI guidelines require the full proposal to be no longer than 1500 words (including the abstract). Click here for specific formatting and style guidelines for both a full proposal and an informative abstract.

How do I format an abstract?

Because the content of the abstract is the basis for acceptance of submitted papers/presentations at our research conferences, The Center for Scholastic Inquiry provides an abstract template that will help you meet our submission requirements. CSI encourages and invites you to review the abstract template and use it to format your submission. Please view the sample.

How long will it take to hear if my presentation abstract has been accepted?

Typically, the Center for Scholastic Inquiry completes reviews of abstracts submitted for conference presentation consideration within seven days of receipt.